Tag Archives: charter schools

The fight over the future of public education in America moves to the full Senate, as Betsy DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education passes out of committee

The above photo was taken by my friend Al Hoff today outside an elementary school in Pittsburg. While I imagine it’s possible that someone could have hung the flag upside down by mistake, I suspect it probably has something to do with what’s happening right now in Washington relative to public education. [The upside down […]

Posted in A2Awesome, Education, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Is the charter school industry paying off Michigan politicians to avoid oversight?

There’s a coordinated attempt afoot to dismantle America’s system of public education, and Michigan Republicans, for the past several years, have been at the forefront, passing laws to weaken our traditional, neighborhood public schools, while, at the same time, clearing the way for unaccountable for-profit charter schools to move in. While I don’t hold out […]

Posted in Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 58 Comments

Now that Ann Arbor is going to be operating a school within Ypsilanti, maybe it’s a good time to broach the subject of our two districts working together, instead of against one another

On August 18, just a few weeks before classes were set to begin at Ann Arbor’s Allen Elementary, a water main broke beneath the school resulting in serious damages that parents were told would take several months to repair. Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) Superintendent Jeanice Swift assured Allen families at the time that, in […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Education, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 75 Comments

State Representative Jeff Irwin on the “frightened patriots” of the open carry movement, forest ecologist Ben Connor Barrie on local trees he’d love to kill, and Matt Siegfried on the racism of Rosie the Riveter… on episode 9 of The Saturday Six Pack

This is Michigan State Rep Jeff Irwin, my first guest on this past weekend’s episode of The Saturday Six Pack. Our interview, which started off with a weighty conversation on corporate money, gerrymandering, and tax policy, and how, together, they’ve nearly destroyed our state, ended on a significantly lighter note when a caller by the […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Politics, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The annexation of Whitmore Lake schools… Who wins? Who loses?

The Whitmore Lake School District, which presently serves approximately 1,000 K-12 students, is reported to be $60 million is debt. And word on the street is that Lansing might dissolve the entire thing in favor of an all-charter system, unless a way can be found to put the district back on a path toward solvency. […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 54 Comments

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